EARLIEST Gravestone in Edgewood Cemetery - Edgewood, TX
N 32° 42.082 W 095° 53.118
15S E 229515 N 3621862
A Texas Historical Marker in front of Edgewood Cemetery indicates that the earliest gravestone in the cemetery belongs to Bruce Echols, a child who died in 1889. There is a twist, however...
Waymark Code: WMQ043
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 11/20/2015
Views: 3
The Van Zandt County
website has a little bit of information about the cemetery, indicating "Earlier graves do exist according to descendants still living in Edgewood, but many graves were never marked, and many markers were totally destroyed through the long years of neglect. The earliest burial discovered during this research was Jennie Barns, who was buried there in 1886. The last person known to be buried in the cemetery was Ethel Fay Platter, infant daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Marion Platter, on 23 November 1924." If the graves of Barns and Platter are even marked, they are noted by one of the many modern, gray granite "Unknown" headstones that make up the majority of the grave markers in the cemetery.
The historical marker provides some background:
District Judge-elect John C. Robertson (1824-1895) and his partner, W.S. Herndon (1837-1903), gave land in 1878 for a railroad depot. This started Edgewood community. Citizens of Canton moved their shipping here from Wills Point due to the Van Zandt County Seat dispute. The earliest gravestone in this community cemetery is that of Bruce Echols (1888-1889). Judge Robertson gave this site to the town in 1896, but the deed was lost and burials declined. The last interment was in the 1920s. Recently restored after long neglect, this plot is also known as Northside Cemetery.
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Bruce Echols shares a marble headstone with his infant sister, who died about a year after he did. The Echols family would also lose a son to World War I. Interestingly, Bruce Echols is listed on the reverse of the headstone:
Bruce,
Son of
M.H. & Lizzie
Echols:
Born
Dec. 17, 1888,
Died
Aug. 25, 1889
On the front of the headstone is the family name, "Echols", with an inscription for the infant who was born and who died the same day:
Infant
Daughter of
M.H. & Lizzie
Echols:
Born & Died
Aug. 4, 1880
An epitaph to both is on one side of the headstone:
Sleep on, sweet
babes and take
your rest
God called you
home, He thought
it best.
With the above in mind, visitors to the cemetery will find a challenge: The headstone of J.W. Blair lists a death year of 1868. Next to him is his father, Allen, and there is a fragment of a third headstone, possibly that of Allen Blair's wife, Syndarillar ("Cindy"). Current information lists them as being in the Bundy/Blair Cemetery, which is even referenced on the Texas Historical Marker for Barren Ridge. The Blairs are not listed on the plaque of known burials at the front of the cemetery, so technically J.W. Blair's headstone is the earliest headstone, but we do not even know if he is truly here, and if so, what the circumstances are behind the removal of three graves and/or headstones from the Blair/Bundy Cemetery.
This waymark will be updated if the City of Edgewood or Van Zandt County can shed any light.